Scooters are lined up in the Saugatuck train station in Westport. Most scooter commuters cite the lower cost of operating scooters for their growing popularity.

Photo: Staff Photo/Gretchen Webster

Scooters are lined up in the Saugatuck train station in Westport....

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Zach Chapman of Fairfield prepaers to jump on his scooter for his daily ride home from the Fairfield Center Train Station. He is a scooter commuter because riding scooters is better for the environment than driving a car, he said.

Photo: Staff Photo/Gretchen Webster

Zach Chapman of Fairfield prepaers to jump on his scooter for his...

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The Fairfield Center Train Station has a special rack set aside for scooters only. Most days, it is full.

Photo: Staff Photo/Gretchen Webster

The Fairfield Center Train Station has a special rack set aside for...

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Fairfielder Kristen Empie heads off into the sunset on her scooter. She commutes between the beach area and the station every day.

Photo: Staff Photo/Gretchen Webster

Fairfielder Kristen Empie heads off into the sunset on her scooter....

There's more than one way to get to the train station. You can walk, you can drive a car or, as more and more people seem to be doing these days, you can ride a motor scooter.

"I park it for free," said Fairfielder Kristen Empie as she strapped on her helmet after getting off the 6:46 p.m. train from Manhattan on a recent evening. She had parked her scooter that morning in a special parking area set aside for scooters on the eastbound side of Fairfield's downtown train station.

Getting herself a scooter to help her get to her advertising job in Manhattan was purely a financial decision, the commuter said. "One gallon goes 150 miles, there's no (personal property) taxes, no registration and getting a parking permit for a car takes five years."

The waiting list for a parking permit at the Fairfield and Southport stations is about three years.

And in Westport, the waiting list for a railroad parking slot does stretch to about five years.

There is no waiting list at the Fairfield Metro station, according to the Fusco Management Co., which operates the parking lot for the state.

Hugo Souza was revving up his motor scooter at Westport's Saugatuck station for the ride home on a recent evening. "What could be better?" he said. "I can go for about two weeks on one gallon," and he doesn't have to pay for a parking permit.

Souza, a summertime resident of Westport, said he used to ride a bike to the depot, but a scooter is faster. "And it isn't so sweaty in the summer."

Fairfield commuter Zach Chapman gave another reason for scooter commuting: "It's better for the environment."

Westport Police Lt. Ryan Paulsson said motor scooter drivers have to be licensed drivers and abide by the same laws as any motor vehicle operator in Connecticut. Motor scooters cannot be driven on sidewalks, for example, he said.

The only difference is that a motor scooter with an engine of less than 50 cubic centimeters does not have to be registered with the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Larger scooters of more than 50 ccs have to be registered, as do motorcycles, Paulsson said.

Railroad parking for scooters at Westport's Saugatuck train station is in a designated spot in the eastbound lot. Scooters and motorcycles share the same space and the small lot often seems to have more motorcycles parked there than scooters.

In Fairfield, there is a six-scooter area reserved for scooters only, adjacent to the eastbound station, and scooter commuters park their vehicles in various other places around the train station, including under the Unquowa Road bridge. On one recent morning, there were about 20 scooters parked at three different sites around the downtown depot's property.

"Before, people were attaching them to everything," she said. Once, a scooter owner had chained his scooter to a live wire powering the train station lights. "We had to remove that scooter," Placko said.

She confirmed that there is no parking charge for scooters or for motorcycles at the Fairfield Center and Southport stations. Scooter racks are located in five different places around the Fairfield Center station. There are also racks for motorcycles, she said.

At the Fairfield Metro station, there is a scooter rack on the New York side of the tracks where bicycles can also park. There is no parking charge for either scooters or bikes.

"The demand has been there over the last three or four years. They're not paying for parking and they're spending much less on gas," Placko said.